HAPPY, HEALTHY AND PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR, from NEIGHBORS

NEIGHBORS starts filming in Yonker in February and this year's social issue is Youth Relationship Violence.

Did you know that I've been directly affected by Domestic Violence throughout every production of NEIGHBORS? It was always the ten ton pink Elephant in the room. The first NEIGHBORS cast member was neighbor Louise (Not her real name) and when I met her, her daughter had someone locked away for Domestic Violence and Stalking, and he was due to be release. So the daughter went to speak to the parole board to stop his release (I don’t want to give to many details). It didn't work so the question of will he kill her once free, for those who knew what was going on, hung in the air like a dense fog throughout our first production. The neighbor who lived in an apartment above me, daughter had been hospitalized twice from being attacked by her boyfriend, throughout the whole Philly production and editing process. The last time her boyfriend knocked her right eye out of her head, and she was, at that time, only about 27 years old. I spoke to mother and daughter about seeking help but they thought they didn't need it. At the time all this was going on, NEIGHBORS focus was on young peoples issues like gang violence and bullicide, youth violence issues.

It wasn't until I witnessed, with my own eyes the new neighbor's daughter being used as a punching bag in her boyfriends car and being dragged down the street as she tried to get out of said car, that I realized Relationship Violence amongst young people is a life threatening issue that NEIGHBORS can address (using the same format we used for bullying, Season 3); I called the police to report the new neighbors daughter’s abuse and I copied down the boyfriend's license plate number and gave it to the police. And, like magic I didn't see it happen again. They probably know it was me cause I tried to talk to the mother but she didn't speak or understand any English; however, I think she got the message, which is, beating up on people is against the law here.

Gang activities, Bullying and Youth and Adult Domestic Violence is all the same, someone trying to impose their will on someone else. Engaging in Chess is empowering and I wish more women engaged in Chess, especially since we make learning the basics of Chess fun and easy. Let's help make NEIGHBORS 5th Anniversary the better, best season yet. 

Please Watch NEIGHBORS on Greenwich's Community Access channel 24 Verizon FiOS; Government Access Ch. 79 check GCTV website and Ch 88 Cablevision Wednesdays at 6pm and Sundays 10:30am and Sound View Community Media Ch. 88; Cablevision, ATT&T Ch. 99 Monday mornings at http://www.soundviewtv.org/index.html and http://phillycam.org/ Video On Demand. Like us at https://www.facebook.com/neighborstv our Matthew for a cruise of a lifetime at http://www.cruiseta.com Noriko at http://www.flowern27.com/  for your next expertly designed, exotic bouquet. Thank you for supporting NEIGHBORS.